Hand bottle crown remover and recapper



July 6, 1954 J. J. COLONNA 2,682,985

HAND BOTTLE CROWN REMOVER AND RECAPPER Filed April 13, 1950 INVENTOR.

Patented July 6, 19,54

v U E HAND BOTTLE CROWN REMOVER AND RECAPPER Jerome J. Colonna, Chicago,11!.

Application April 13, 1950, Serial No. 155,713

1 Claim.

This invention relates to a hand bottle crown remover and recapper.Wherever drinks are mixed with carbonated water such as Seltzer water,ginger ale, or the like, there is a need for a bottle stoppertemporarily closing the unemptied bottle so as to reduce the escape ofthe carbon dioxide. In the past, removable rubber stoppers have beenused.

.The general object of this invention is to recap the partially emptybottle of carbonated beverage with its own crown.

' The first specific object of this invention is to provide a crownremover which not only will not damage the crown when it is removed, butwill deform it in substantially the same way each time so that one toolwill readily return it to its original sealed position on the bottleorifice.

The second object is to provide a simple tool for rescaling the crownand bottle.

These and such other objects as may hereinafter appear are attained inone embodiment of the invention shown in the accompanying drawingswherein:

Fig. 1 is a side elevation of applicants opener and recapper in positionon a crowned bottle immediately before the crown is removed;

Fig. 2 is a view taken on the line 2-2 of Fig. 1;

Fig. 3 is a side elevation partly in section showing the crown holder,with a crown in position immediately prior to recapping; and,

Fig. 4. is a view at the end of recapping step.

Continuing to refer to the drawings, in Fig. 1, the numeral Iiigenerally identifies applicants crown remover and recapper whichcomprises shank I2 having an opener Hi at one end and a recapper it atthe other. The opener l4 comprises a disk l8 centrally disposed on theshank I2 with an inwardly turned bead 24] for engaging the underside ofthe pleats 22 of the crown 24.

Spaced from the underside of'the disk l8 by approximately half thediameter of the crown 24 is an enlarged shoulder or Wale 28 on the shank12.

In order to use the crown remover, it is applied to the bottle top asillustrated in Fig. 1. Since the shoulder 28 is circular, and the diski8 is circular, the user need give no attention to how it is positionedon the cap other than that the inner side of the bead 20 engages theunderside of the pleats 24.

Referring to Fig. 2, it will be observed that the bead 20 engages twogripping members 21 and 23 which are spaced from each other by twogripping members. The top as of the crown 24 is fiat upon completion ofthe capping operation by a standard crown bottler.

The result is that the crown 2 is lifted ofi of the bottle orifice byspreading the pleats 22 and 23, while the remaining pleats are notaffected. By placing the fulcrum from which the bead 29 operates uponthe center of the crown,

there is a tendency to evenly distribute strain over the crown so thatit does not deform other than near the point 22 and 23. The top of thecrown is slightl depressed as indicated by the dotted line 36.

Applicants recapper comprises a cup 36 having an orifice 38 whosediameter is slightly more than the outside diameter of a crown mountedon a bottle. If one places the cup 36 over the crowned bottle in Fig. 1,it can be pushed down over the glass with its inside edges slightlyspaced from the periphery of the gripping members 22 around the crown24. The inside wall 40 of the bowl is tapered inwardly to a diametersuch that it will tightly squeeze the gripping members 22 around thebottle orifice. The inside of the cup 3'5 is a truncated cone. A plunger52 having a disk head 44 with a shank 46 is urged downwardly by a coilspring 48 mounted in a cylindrical recess 55 in the shank l 2. The shank45 has a flattened portion 52 which is spaced from the upper end of theshank by a shoulder 56; A set screw 56 is seated sufficiently far sothat it will engage the shoulder 53 while not interfering with verticalmovement of the shank 65.

To recap a bottle, referring to Fig. 3, the inverted cup 36 is seated inthe position illustrated in Fig. 3. If the bottle is rested on a table,and one brings the fiat of ones hand down on the disk I4, the invertedcup 46 will take the position illustrated in Fig. 4.

The advantage of applicants crown remover and recapper resides in thefact that it utilizes the clean crown for one bottle and one bottleonly. Each crown on its underside has a thin cork liner covered by ametallic foil. By replacing this crown, on the same bottle, a tighterseal is obtained than in the case of the rubber stoppers. When thebottle has been completely emptied, the crown is then thrown away. Forthe number of times that a crown may be taken off of a bottle of gingerale or charged water, the chances of picking up dirt are negligible. Incontrast, a rubber stopper must be moved from bottle to bottle,ultimately gets dirty, and wears rather rapidly.

Having thus described his invention, what applicant claims is:

A bottle crown recapper comprising an elongated handle, an outwardlydirected, circular cup axially mounted on one end of said handle, theinside diameter of the cups periphery slightly exceeding the outsidediameter of a capped bottle crown, said handle having an axiallypositioned, cylindrical chamber substantially longer than the depth ofthe cup and of a diameter substantially less than that of the cup andcommunicating with the cup through its bottom so that the bottom of thecup constitutes a shoulder around the cylindrical chambers opening, aplunger longer than the depth of the cup reciprocably mounted in saidchamber, a disk having a diameter slightly smaller than the insidediameter of the cup mounted on the outer end of the plunger in a planeat right angles to the plungers axis whereby when the disk and plungerare moved inwardly the back of the disk will engage said shoulder in thecups bottom, means for holding the plunger in the cylindrical chamber,and spring means urging the plunger and the disk outwardly.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS NumberName Date 1,116,438 Kalbrenner Nov. 10, 1914 1,341,163 Beste May 25,1920 1,366,259 Hanford Jan. 18, 1921 1,366,755 Vaughan Jan. 25, 19212,430,651 Shanahan Nov. 11, 1947

